Take your average adult these days, and he or she (let's go with he for now) probably has a cell phone of some sort. More than likely, he has had at least one occasion that necessitated him having to call into his cell phone service provider to address a problem. Nine and a half times out of ten, that call did not go well at all. In fact, he probably left the call in a far more foul mood than when he started. It may have been the fact that the problem wasn't solved or the person on the other end of the phone just simply didn't give two squats about adequately handling the problem. Either way, it sucks.
At that point, the term of "customer service" is laughable at best and a cause of increased blood pressure at worst. It's become a joke when it's discussed in the frame of particular companies. Some are more well known for their craptastic customer service than they are for whatever product or service they provide to consumers. Sad, isn't it?
What is even sadder is the fact that this is the norm for so (too) many companies today. There's no pride in delivering knock-you-on-your-ass customer service. Sure, they may talk a really good game, but they rarely, if ever, deliver. I can speak from experience just when I speak of my own internet and cable provider. Their commercials may call me "friend", but I (and others I know who are customers of the same company) have never been treated as such. We're just numbers to them. Just people from whom they collect money every month but don't have to provide a consumable product that a "friend" would really want us to have.
Talk is cheap...and often fruitless in an instance like this.
So, what happened to get us all to a state like this? Easy. Business happened.
The business of doing business got in the damn way. Bottom lines became nothing more than a report full of numerical figures. Products became widgets to push out the door into consumers' hands without Care One about it being of high quality. Services sold to customers became more about competition with some other company providing the same service instead of really delivering something special that consumers should be clamoring to get and stay with instead of just bouncing from one company to the next to the next.
It's all bullshit, and we consumers get to continue to shovel it.
This isn't just about the consumer side of things, either. I know (from experience) that those in the position of working for any company are often shoved between a rock and a hard place when it comes to truly, genuinely helping consumers with their issues. As an employee, your hands are often tied with policies and procedures, as well as the threat of punishment if you DARE go out of those highly defined lines. Considering how fragile this position is, and the state of unemployment these days, you tow the party line in order to continue to bring in a steady paycheck. It sucks.
Customer service representatives (or whatever name a company calls those who answer calls, emails, chats or use face-to-face customer contact) are confronted with many obstacles:
- Follow strictly outlined policies and procedures for every call without fail!
- Don't appear too understanding, because then you'll be admitting that the customer is right, which may lead to having to give them something that the company doesn't want you to give to them...yanno, like making a situation right.
- If you're in a call center, keep your customer calls/interactions under [insert some ridiculously low number of minutes and seconds here] so that you can just move them along like the cattle we think they are so you can get to that next call in queue (I'll get to that whole "branding" issue in another post later).
- If you deviate at ALL from what your supervisor and The Company has outlined as proper policy or procedure, you are assured to be written up for it, even if what you did made the customer happy enough to stay with the company and continue to purchase the product or service. Fear of losing your job hangs like a black cloud over your head constantly thanks to this one issue, since a certain number of write-ups ensures that your ass is outta there.
There are more, of course, and they are often determined on the basis of the company and/or industry involved. However, that list is pretty universal.
What to do about all that? Well, unless there is a major shakeup with The Powers That Be (TPTB) within every company that includes the strongest form of enema that is safe to give, not a great deal. UNLESS, we demand it!!! Yes, this is sort of a "power to the people" mentality, but it's true. If we, both as consumers and as employees, demand better for ourselves and our customers, no change will occur.
Consumers can let their voice be heard by using their wallets to do the talking. It may be a little difficult to do, since there isn't always available options *cough*cablecompanies*cough*, but let's get creative here, folks. Perhaps it's time to encourage more entrepreneurial endeavors in ourselves and others. If all this pisses you off, then do something about it instead of just sitting and bitching about it. And, yes, you can still be lazy and do something about it. Again, get creative! No one said that laziness is the same as being filled with a lack of ingenuity. Some of the laziest people in history were the most brilliant, so get to it!
It's time to stop thinking of and referring to customer service with sarcasm, disdain and dread. It's something that is important to business - too important to skimp on any longer and still think that consumers will just bend over and take it, or that employees will just fake being happy to do their job with no care of how it literally sucks their soul dry.
Are YOU ready to get going on lazy customer service? Grab your most comfortable chair, kick your feet up and let's get started.
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